The Installer Operating Requirements and the Customer Commitment

Two documents, two audiences

The Customer Commitment is written outward. It is what a homeowner can expect from any MCS certified installer: clear pre-sale information, a system that performs as described, a proper handover, and somewhere to go when something goes wrong. It exists so that MCS certification means something specific to a consumer rather than being a badge.

The Installer Operating Requirements are written inward. They are the obligations that make the Commitment deliverable: the processes and controls you must have, the records you must keep, who must be accountable for what, and how you handle complaints. If the Commitment is the promise, the Requirements are the machinery.

What "embedded in your operations" means

MCS asks you to demonstrate not just understanding but that these are embedded in how you operate. That phrase is doing real work, and it is where unprepared calls come apart.

Understanding sounds like: "we give the customer pre-sale information." Embedded sounds like: "the quote pack our software generates includes the performance estimate and the pre-sale information, and I do not send a quote without it, because the template will not produce one." One is a description of a document. The other is a description of a business.

The practical test is whether you can answer a follow-up. Anyone can say they handle complaints properly. The follow-up is who logs it, where it is logged, how long you have to respond under your consumer code, and what happens if the customer is not satisfied with your answer.

Operating scenarios: Appendix A

Appendix A of the Installer Operating Requirements groups installers into scenarios according to the size and complexity of their MCS work - the number of people involved, and how much of the work is subcontracted or supervised rather than done directly.

The scenario matters because it changes what is proportionate. A sole trader who designs, installs and commissions personally is not expected to run the documented supervision regime that a business with several installation teams needs. What is proportionate for you is what the assessor measures you against, so being wrong about your own scenario means being measured against the wrong standard.

Your certification body agrees your scenario with you. Know which one you are in before the call, because several answers change with it.

The business roles the Requirements name

The Requirements set out accountabilities rather than job titles, and in a small business one person holds all of them. Naming them is not bureaucracy - on the call, "who signs off an installation as compliant?" is a question with a right answer, and "I do" is only right if you are the named Technical Supervisor.

• ·Main Contact - the point of contact for MCS and your certification body on Scheme matters.
• ·Licensee - signs the Installer Agreement and accepts ultimate responsibility for meeting Scheme requirements.
• ·Technical Supervisor - signs off each installation as compliant with the relevant MCS installation standards.

Reading them properly is a couple of hours

Both documents are published by MCS and free. The onboarding call assumes you have read them, which is a low bar that a surprising number of applicants fail. Reading them is not the same as being ready to talk about them under time pressure, but it is the floor.

Read the Requirements with a pen and mark every clause you cannot immediately map to something your business already does. That list is your preparation.

Common questions